hollywood melon man

Back on the eve of the release of Battleship, David Ellison and Michael Ovitz had an argument during an internal preview held at Sky Studios.

"David, I urge you to think about this seriously. With the quality shown in this film, it is difficult for it to stand out in the summer season."

David Ellison asked back: "So what do you think we should do?"

"It's very simple."

Michael Ovitz offered his own suggestion: "Cancel the release plan, make a major revision to the film, reshoot or even re-shoot some scenes."

David Ellison frowned and immediately asked, "Do you know how much effort it takes to reshoot? How do you calculate the increased costs?"

"Of course I know that, but..."

Michael Ovitz said seriously, "It's better than losing money directly if the film fails, right? At least we can still take some remedial measures now."

When David Ellison heard this, his face instantly fell. It was obvious that this sentence was very unpleasant to his ears.

"You mean our film is going to fail?"

"No, there is a high probability of failure."

Michael Ovitz gave his reasons: "Because Battleship is too ordinary and typical, it falls into the conventional Hollywood routine.

Ten years ago, this movie would have been a big hit, but in today's Hollywood, Battleship has no market."

The project "Battleship" also came from Hasbro's war chess game Battleship Attack and Defense. When Gilbert Jr. was in a stalemate with DreamWorks, Hasbro recommended this project to him.

Later, Gilbert Jr. set up a trap and let David Ellison snatch the project away.

Because of the success of "Transformers", David Ellison believes that "Battleship" is the project with the greatest potential for success.

Now that the studio has already failed in two projects, "Tron: Legacy" and "John Carter", it is hoping to make money from "Battleship".

Once you understand this, you will understand why David Ellison reacted so strongly to Michael Ovitz's words.

Even if he was a fool, he knew that he was tricked by Little Gilbert. But he was confident that he could turn the situation around with his own abilities.

"Battleship" was his last hope, because Larry Ellison was already dissatisfied with David Ellison's endless investment without seeing any results.

Larry Ellison asked David Ellison to turn Sky Studios around by 2014. The Ellison family was rich, but they could not continue to burn money in the film industry.

Compared to David Ellison's situation, Megan Ellison, who works in the independent film circle, is in a much better situation. A film she produced last year won an Oscar.

Although Hollywood is dominated by commercial films, compared with her brother, Megan Ellison, who holds the concept of prudent investment and award-winning, is obviously at ease.

By comparing the two, it is easy to understand David Ellison's urgency.

Eventually Michael Ovitz resigned in anger and announced his retirement.

"Battleship" was released in the summer as scheduled, but its box office revenue of less than 3000 million U.S. dollars in the first week hurt David Ellison's eyes.

"Damn it, little Gilbert lied to me."

David Ellison shouted and then fainted magnificently.

When young Gilbert heard about David Ellison fainting, he thought that the young man had poor mental health as he fainted easily.

However, in the current situation, David Ellison fainting might be the only option, and he had to faint. Battleship completely flopped at the North American box office, and even its overseas box office failed to pick up, earning only $6850 million in its first week overseas.

What's going on? Are Hollywood blockbusters no longer popular overseas?
Of course not. This year's "The Dark Knight Rises" and "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" have both achieved quite good results in overseas markets.

But since Battleship did not perform well overseas, it proves that the film is indeed unpopular.

Generally speaking, films that do not perform well in the North American market will also have a hard time doing well in overseas markets. The North American market is a barometer of the popularity of the global film market, and films that are popular here can also sell well overseas.

This is a truth that has been proven over the years, so the moment Battleship failed at the North American box office, the film's ending was doomed.

For a blockbuster with an investment of more than 200 million US dollars, such a result can be said to be a huge loss.

Why did the film fail? There are many reasons, as the San Francisco Chronicle put it:

"It's loud, it's big, it's silly; the best part is the chicken wrap."

The newspaper hailed the film before its release: "It's a bold, creative summer blockbuster with an appealing cast of characters; it's plenty of fun and has plenty of suspense."

The Miami Herald also said: "It is true that the film is adapted from a board game played by children, so it is understandable that the target audience of the film is children; but there is no need to position them as the stupid part."

Before the film was released, the newspaper said: "For those who expect grand scenes and deafening special effects, the film undoubtedly amplifies those war machines and unparalleled heroism."

It can be seen that due to the poor box office performance, even the public opinion environment has changed.

IMDB film critic Peter gave his own opinion. He thought that although the naval battle scenes were pretty good, the film was lackluster otherwise and seemed bloated overall.

"The film's plot is not very enjoyable to watch. The first 30 minutes of the film can almost be compressed into one or two minutes: the hero's love story, the various family ties and disputes between him and his brother, the hero's fear of his father-in-law, etc. These plots are obviously bubbles.

These parts should be shaved off with Occam's razor, because they have little to do with the naval battle and human destiny that the film is about, and are typical Hollywood routines. "

It can be said that at this point, the movie "Battleship" is facing a complete failure.

David Ellison woke up in the ward. There was no one by his side, which made him feel a little lonely for a moment.

After Battleship flopped at the box office in its first week, David Ellison had already imagined the end that Sky Studios was facing.

He didn't want to admit defeat, but reality left him no choice.

Maybe I should just go back to being a rich second-generation and experience the boring life of a yacht model. Gilbert Jr. was right, I was indeed not suitable for Hollywood.

David Ellison was lost in thought when his assistant suddenly came over and whispered something in his ear.

David Ellison laughed sarcastically after hearing this: "Is he here to laugh at me? Let him in!"

The assistant went out, and soon Gilbert Jr. entered the ward, with Ivanka behind him carrying a fruit basket and placing it on the cabinet next to the bed.

"David, I heard you were sick, so I came to see you."

The warm and sincere smile on Gilbert Jr.'s face made it impossible to tell that there was any conflict between him and David Ellison. It was as if they were true friends.

By this time, David Ellison also realized that there was no point in being stubborn.

He also smiled: "Thank you for coming to see me. Thanks to you, my health is getting better."

"That's good, that's good." (End of this chapter)